About Luminas

Without using drugs or chemicals of any kind, Luminas odor-free pain relief patches promise to reduce inflammation in minutes and decrease discomfort anywhere on the body for 24 hours or more.

The website advertises these patches use “a breakthrough method based on quantum physics” they call energy medicine technology. Here, the company explains that each patch is “charged with the power of more than 200 natural remedies known to reduce the most common causes of pain and inflammation.”

Despite its effectiveness, Luminas International, LLC—who’s based out of Irvine, CA and has been in business since 2014—claims their patches are safe for users of all ages and cause no known side effects.

According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, more than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. However, many of these individuals report their pain is poorly managed, so Luminas’ patches certainly could help a lot of people if they work as advertised.

Is it necessarily the breakthrough frequently mentioned on the company’s website, though? Ultimately, how can you figure out which is the best first step?

These are just a couple of the questions we’ll help you quick answer here, in a step-by-step format.

Which Ingredients are Found in Luminas Pain Relief Patches?

The Luminas website emphasizes their “patches contain no active ingredients.” Instead, they’re “charged with electrons captured from” a proprietary formula that includes more than 200 ingredients like:

Furthermore, we’re told that these patches are non-transdermal. So, even if they did contain active ingredients, your skin couldn’t absorb them.

Nonetheless, Luminas indicates that once the medium and large fabric patches are applied to the skin, they can provide pain relief for up to 24 hours. This version also features a stronger, water-resistant adhesive that’s designed to stay on in most conditions (bathing, showering, swimming, exercising, etc.).

The smaller white, circular patches are designed to provide relief for 24+ hours, with an easy-off adhesive that can be removed with water.

Now, you might be wondering: How can something with no ingredients (and no ability to pass through your skin, even if there were) have any mechanism of action on the body? This is what we’ll explore next.

Taking a Closer Look at Luminas’ Energy Medicine Technology

Luminas’ Advertising Claims

For the non-physicists among us, here’s how Luminas explains their electron energy medicine technology, taken directly from their website:

“Our proprietary technology allows us to capture these unique electric field signatures from 100s of natural remedies used to relieve pain and inflammation. These unique signatures are then modulated onto a resonant carrier wave allowing us to transfer these unique signatures onto the patch.”

After these electrons are imprinted into the patch and applied to your skin, the Luminas site explains they “work naturally with your body’s own electric field to activate the innate natural healing energies that relieve pain, restore balance,” and “support the body’s innate, natural healing process.”

The Science Behind Luminas

No one on the HighYa team is a physicist, either. But with the help of a few authoritative, publically available resources, let’s quickly unpack some of these terms at a consumer level.

What Are Carrier Waves?

According to Dr. Jan Noordhof of the Tait Radio Academy, the carrier waves referenced on the Luminas website are sine waves (they steadily move up and down; think of a heartbeat monitor), but they contain no information that’s useful, such as speech or data.

To include any information in a carrier wave and therefore make it useful, he explains, “another wave needs to be imposed, called an input signal,” on top. “This process of imposing an input signal onto a carrier wave is called modulation. In other words, modulation … is like hiding a code inside the carrier wave.”

As you might imagine, because of their information-carrying ability, carrier waves are especially useful in the telecommunications (radio, television, internet, etc.) industry, where large, powerful towers transmit them.

However, we didn’t encounter any mention on sites like the Tait Radio Academy, the Indiana University Southeast School of Natural Sciences, the Federation of American Scientists, or The Ohio State University Department of Physics (to name just a few), that the physical properties of substances can be transmitted on carrier waves.

Let’s carry this thought over to the next section, before moving on.

How Do Carrier Waves Relate to the Electron Profiles Found in Each Luminas Pain Patch?

The very word ‘electronic' indicates that electrons are closely involved in the transmission of carrier waves. As such, it might make sense that each Luminas pain patch could— even though there’s no power source—actually transfer electrons into a person’s body.

Or, as their website puts it, these patches “capture the electron profile of hundreds of different compounds” and “natural remedies,” after which the “body can select exactly what it wants.” In this way, you can “harness the energetic signatures your body needs to perform its best.”

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Again, as non-physicists, here’s where some of our questions come in. Why?

Because a molecule is the smallest particle of any compound that can exist independently. In other words, a molecule of starch from corn (as one random example) is the tiniest piece of matter that can exist and still be called ‘starch.’

However, a molecule is made up of atoms, which themselves are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. But, since each molecule contains a different combination of atoms (starch versus protein, for example), they also carry a different number of electrons.

Pulling these facts together, we can see that transmitting a single electron would not be the same as transmitting an entire molecule, which is the smallest substance that can have a measurable effect on the human body.

Nonetheless, the Luminas website, commercial, and videos repeatedly emphasize that the electrons generated by their patches have been shown via digital infrared thermography to decrease skin temperature and related inflammation.

From a high-level perspective, a quick search via online marketplaces like Google Shopping, Walmart, and Amazon will reveal dozens of pain relief patches, with a variety of mechanisms of action, from national brands like:

Brand

Price

Active Ingredient(s)

Luminas

$24.99+ per 24-patch box

None

Salonpas

$10 for 5 patches

Menthol 3%, Methyl Salicylate 10%

Ultimate Lidocaine Pain Relief Patch

$20 for 5 patches

Lidocaine 4%, Menthol USP 1%

ThermaCare Advanced Multi-Purpose Patch

$25 for 3 patches

None; only generates heat once applied to the skin

nCAP Reusable Pain Patches

$26 - $182

None; generates electrical waves using tiny capacitors

Bengay Pain Relieving Patch

$5+, depending on size

Menthol 5%

This is to say nothing of other drug- and- menthol-free options, including high-tech wearables like Quell, TENS units like CopperWear Tensation, or full-blown electronic muscle stimulator (EMS) devices.

Zooming in, though, we encountered only one other product that advertised a similar mechanism of action as Luminas: Heliopatch ($30 for 5 patches).

Along the same lines, this patch promises to use “specially refined elemental magnesium” as a source of electrons, which it then transmits to the body. Once there, they say that free radicals (molecules missing electrons that can damage the body) pick up these free-floating electrons and are subsequently neutralized through a process dubbed ‘electron donation therapy.’

Other than their meaningful price differences, how can you choose whether or not you should buy pain relief patches from Luminas, Heliopatch, or neither?

Is Luminas the Right Pain Relief Option for You?

Because chronic pain is a medical condition, the first person you should talk to is your doctor. They can ask the right questions and order the appropriate tests to formulate a science-backed treatment plan that can help you find some relief.

During your appointment, be sure to ask them about Luminas and other chemical-free pain relief patches and devices, and which one might deliver the most bang-for-your-buck, based on your specific diagnosis.

Based on the basics we learned during our research from organizations like the Federation of American Scientists and The Ohio State University Department of Physics (to name just two), though, the exact mechanism of action—and whether or not the concept is scientifically valid—with patches like Luminas seems to be a mystery.

But if you give their patches a try and find they don’t provide the pain relief you’re expecting, Luminas seems to stand behind them with a 30-day refund policy. Just keep in mind you’ll lose your original S&H, plus whatever it will cost to send them back to the manufacturer.

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Amazing product

I have found the patch to provide excellent pain reduction/relief for my everyday backache. After speaking with a customer service representative about where to place the patch and how long to leave it on, I now have learned I can wear the patch in anticipation of an event that may cause aches and pains. The patch is reducing inflammation that would result in pain. I’ve shared the patches with friends and they have reported good results as well. With no side effects and no medication interaction, it's a good choice for me.

Great for chronic pain!

I have an autoimmune disease and suffer from chronic widespread pain. I choose not to rely on pain medication for all the obvious reasons. I was actually given a couple of the Luminas pain patches. I put them on my back before bed. It was the first time in a very long time I was able to sit up and watch TV with husband pain-free. I slept with them on and woke up free from pain and my usual stiffness. The relief lasted well after I took them off. At least 24 hours! Needless to say, I'm ordering my own. I already have recommended this to others, and I'm sure I will again!

Very impressed with the results

My wife and I recently just had twins and carrying them around all day really started to bring back some old sports injuries and back pain. It was hard for me to wear a lot of the pain patches out there since the smell was too strong for the babies. I read some good reviews on the Luminas pain patches, and they are amazing. Not only did they help me with the pain, they are safe to wear around the babies and don't have that awful smell most of the pain patches out there do.

Help at last!

I suffer from stenosis of the neck and lower back. I’ve had several MRI’s and the suggestion is always PT, which I faithfully do. I’m always looking for natural pain relief. Many I have tried and had no relief. The pain is awful in the neck-shoulder region. The muscles react to the pain by forming large knots in shoulder, upper and lower arm. I have had steroid shots injected into the muscles, the relief would be anywhere from 6 months to one day. Then came the time when they would inject and the steroid medicine would not go into the muscle due to the tightness of the muscle. Next step, epidurals on upper back. Again, worked anywhere from 6 months to one day.

When I saw the ad for Luminas pain relief patch, using energy medicine, of course I was skeptical, but so desperate for any relief. I am amazed at how much it has helped me. The first time I put the patch on I could feel some relief. Now, I’m not pain-free, but I’m able to do the things I love to do again. One more added bonus, the prices are so reasonable for anyone to afford. Hopefully, this will keep me a few more years away from surgery!

I can't believe it!

I am 71 and had two falls in four days onto the side of my body that I'd had surgery on in late August 2018. I have been struggling with pain and mobility since then, and despite using narcotic medication including liquid morphine, I haven't received much relief at all - UNTIL the Luminas patches arrived today.

I put three large patches on the worst spots, and within half an hour, my pain had dropped significantly.

I am still shaking my head in disbelief! I have tried every form of pain relief, from TENS machines, Painmaster, PainPod and various gels and lotions, and none has had the effect that the Luminas patches have given me.

I'm about to order more as I truly believe they work, instantaneously and effectively.

Pain free at last

I tore the meniscus in my knee in 2012, I reinjured it last summer, and now they tell me I need a total knee replacement. I've just been babying it, putting on all these kinds of essential oils, DMSO the Lidoderm patch. I would feel a little relief with that, but it wouldn't last maybe a couple hours of that. Then I found the Luminous patch. It came very fast and I had relief within 15 minutes. You have to press the patch on and I rubbed it a little bit to release their electrons. But it lasted a good at least 22 hours. I will definitely be a repeat customer and I'm telling everybody I know.

Thank you Luminas for creating this patch. I think that maybe some of the negative reviews they might not have washed that area first with just plain water and let it dry, and maybe they didn't put it on right.

Amazing! I love this brand!

I was bought these as a gift as I suffer with endometriosis and sciatica and lower back pain. They're not cheap, so my friend bought me them as a gift. I wasn't sure about them at first, but they are so amazing. When I rang my friend to tell her I'd had the best pain-free nights sleep in over a year, I was crying I was so happy. These have made a big difference in my life, and I will be purchasing more when the ones my friend treated me to have run out. I really want to try the sleep ones, they sound amazing!

Customer service

The product does not work. Customer service was horrible, the rep hung up on me. I then called back to speak to a supervisor and I heard the rep in the background stating I hung up on him. The supervisor was even rude. I do not recommend this company based on their customer service. Juan and Joe were their names.